Unconventional, talented and multi-layered, Neena Gupta continues to rule all our hearts with her phenomenal performance in every role she plays. Her recent stint as Manju Devi in Panchayat, an Amazon Prime Video and TVF original has yet again left everybody in awe of her exceptional acting talent.
Neena Gupta recently spoke about what inspired her to take on the role in Panchayat. She said that “Manju Devi is the elected Pradhan of the Panchayat. She is extremely relaxed and doesn’t care about anything else, even her official duties are handled by her husband, who regards himself as the unofficial Pradhan of the village. She is a simple housewife who is only concerned about family responsibilities like cooking a good meal for her husband, getting her daughter married, and is quite content with it.”
She further added that “The only time her character actually is affected by the situation is when Abhishek (played by Jitendra Kumar) taunts her about the fact that the other Pradhans are doing their jobs and she isn’t. Even after the humiliating conversation, she doesn’t rebel or exhibit her anger but handles the situation very calmly. She feels rather ashamed and tries to do something about it. And that’s my character’s arc. The way the entire scene is written, it says a lot about the character without hitting you in the head. This one scene was the most captivating and impactful moment for my character and made me say yes to the role immediately.”
Apart from Neena Gupta, the show also sees a remarkable performance by Jitendra Kumar, last seen in Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan and veteran actor Raghubir Yadav in lead.